The present invention refers to a device for filling removable containers for paper valuables, for example banknotes, with the possibility of documenting and certifying the contents of the container once it has been filled, closed and removed.
Such device is intended to be used in machines for storing banknotes, usually present in banks, supermarkets, shopping mails or the like.
Herein, reference is made to banknotes, but the same operating principles of the device may be also applied to other paper documents having characteristics similar to those of the banknotes, such as for example cheques, etc.
In the prior art, the banknotes are inserted into these machines through an inlet port, they pass through appropriate counting means and verification and recognition sensors of the characteristics thereof (dimensions, denomination, etc.) and they may be conveyed, if necessary, to temporary storage compartments inside the machine. When required, the banknotes coming directly from the inlet or from the storage compartments inside the machine are inserted in containers, such as boxes or bags removably housed in the machine itself.
After filling, said containers are closed and sealed through known closing means (for example irreversible closing means) adapted to make tampering therewith as difficult as possible or at least clearly recognisable.
After the closure thereof, the containers are then removed from the machine and forwarded to the clients (for example banks or shops) or to suitable storehouses for the storage of valuables.
Regardless of the measures taken for hindering or complicating the fraudulent opening of the containers, tampering actions which are so well executed that they aren't impossible to detect cannot be excluded with certainty.
In addition, it may happen that some errors regarding the detection of the number and characteristics of the passing banknotes occur at the sensors present in the machine (generally before exchanges for the various store compartments) for monitoring the movements of the banknotes. As a matter of fact, such sensors are typically of the ON/OFF operating optical type, i.e. they can “see” or not see the passage of the banknotes depending on the optical parts of the sensor have been obscured or not obscured, and thus it may happen that the passage of two pieces of banknotes, for example caused by tearing of one banknote, is detected as the presence of two banknotes or that two superimposed or partly superimposed banknotes are detected as just one banknote.
It should also be observed that sensors of this type are not capable of recognising and storing specific characteristics of documents that are made to pass through them, for example writings, serial numbers etc.
These drawbacks due to lacking or incomplete detection of the banknotes would not actually be that serious as long as the banknotes remain in the machine given that, for example, with a further control during dispensing, such errors could be detected and corrected suitably.
A criticality occurs instead if an erroneous detection of banknotes intended to be inserted in containers removable from the machine is performed. In fact, it may occur that, due to the possible detection errors described above, the banknotes actually entered into the container are different in terms of number or denomination with respect to what is apparently detected by the sensors present in the machine, with ensuing complaint by the client intended to receive the banknotes.
However, even in cases where such detection errors do not occur and the banknotes entered into the container actually comply with what is detected by the sensors, the container might be tampered during transport, so that the client actually receives an amount smaller than the agreed one, without there being a certification of the exact amount introduced into the container before removal from the machine.
Thus, there has been largely felt the need of how to be able to correctly and provably certify the contents of a removable container for banknotes when it is closed so as to be subsequently removed and sent to destination.